Here come the Reds

Assuming we aren't rained out some time this weekend, the Reds and Bucs will play four starting tonight. They throw Paul Wilson in the opener. He was once a highly-touted prospect and I've always thought him one of the better breakout candidates from the collection of retreads. He'll be huge for the Reds this year if he can keep his roll going. We counter with Kip Wells.

Tomorrow, it's Jimmy Anderson Haynes, someone I love to see on the mound for the other club. The Pirates have had some success against this one-inning starter. His three-year splits make Josh Fogg look good. We counter with Kris Benson, who has absolutely owned the Reds over the last three years. As they say in the mutual fund business, however, past performance does not guarantee future results.

On Sunday we'll put Oliver Perez out there against Jose Acevedo, who is looking really good this year, and on Monday it's Ryan Vogelsong against Aaron Harang.

The Reds are a dangerous team when everyone's healthy, as they all seem to be right now. The Honest Wagner roadmap to an 83-win season calls for the Bucs to stay at or just around .500 until the All-Star break, so I'll be happy if the Bucs can manage a split.